Are lots of pre-reception 4 year olds reading ?

[flowerpowersd]

My DD is 4, she starts reception in September.

I've been speaking to a few parents who said their child is so ready for reception.

One today told me that their child was ready because she was already reading.

My DD likes phonics and can recognise some words, is making the first attempts at blending sounds and ' reading '.

Should I aim for her to be reading by the time she starts reception ?

Is this quite common that children can read this soon and is this what parents mean when they say they're ready for reception?

Another mum told me her son was also reading and he was not even 4 yet at the time.

Should I invest in some very basic reading books and try to teach her so she can ' read ' when she starts reception ? Or can my DD also technically 'read '?

Or when people say they can read, they actually mean they can read books for their age independently?

She's been going to preschool nursery so far. She loves it and I'm not sure I would say she's ready or desperate to go to reception, although I could be wrong.

Our school actually instructed parents not to teach old style so no Ay, Bee Cee because that's not how they're taught anymore and it's harder to undo the damage than to teach from scratch.
They do have a phonics meeting for parents but only after the children start reception so Normally around the 3rd week of September.
DD is my 5th at the same school, eldest two followed the 'biff chip and kipper' books, younger two the 'read, write inc' program so although they all did phonics, the techniques have changed over the years, some kids pick it up really fast others at their own pace.

Yes they did. Most went to nextdoor nursery. Affluent area.

Half the class can do phonics and blend but I wouldn't call it reading as such yet. 3 I would say can read.

The other half are a mixed bag - some can recognise the phonics and blend if in the mood but most of the time they are reluctant to do that much. (These are usually behaviour related or being the youngest) Theres a couple who are struggling with any but not many.

There is a strong link between which parents take it seriously (and can return books when they should) and those who are reading better, with only a couple of exceptions.

Very few can read when they start reception.
They need to be able to get dressed and undressed independently (for pe), find their own coat, shoes etc... and make themselves understood when they need the loo.
I'd concentrate on gross and fine motor skills, and communication all through play and everyday activities.

I learnt to read from memory when I was younger. Later got diagnosed with dyslexia, however I don't believe I'm dyslexic, I just never learnt the rules of reading. I love to read, and can read very quickly, however DD bought a book home last week with some made up words. I couldn't read it.

I have no idea how schools teach to read, therefore I will be taking my cues from them in September and extend what they teach into the home.

Never know, I may learn to read properly too🤣

Also.

Dont be the parent who sends their child to school in laces, when the child can't tie them.

That's really annoying.

(It's far more useful to the teacher to either consider this when buying shoes or teaching your kids this rather than reading).

This - if you were to watch my 3 year old (tomorrow!) DD at bedtime you’d think she could read - in fact we’ve read the same 3 books every night before bed and she knows them completely so it looks like it’s reading but it really isn’t.

*other books are available but she’s just so very attached to the hungry caterpillar now 😂

Our DD was very much like this, the book "You Choose" ended up "going on holiday" before I finally lost my marbles

Well mine can barely hold a pen so I think you’re good!

I know some reception teachers who hate when kids come in knowing how to write. They need to re teach it all. Don’t worry, she’ll learn at the right pace for her.

I couldn't do phonics at all. It hurt me.

Then COVID and I had to learn via YouTube so I could teach DS as there was no teacher!

I have to say that experience and helping in reception, I'd say that if you can get your child to sit and listen to you read it's possibly more valuable than them being able to do the phonics/read before school. It has greater impact for multiple subjects..

The biggest issue I have is getting the kids to sit still and focus for ten minutes - not the phonics themselves.

Teacher here. No those parents who have said their children can read already before reception are very much in the minority/ rare. Quite frankly shocked you know so many! Schools often don’t like children to be taught too much phonics before the start school as often then have to correct what has been taught wrongly. Just think back to your childhood- I bet you couldn’t read before reception and haven’t been effected by it.,children in Norway or it might be Finland don’t even start school until seven years old. Your child is totally normal.

It really varies so please don’t worry.

I could read before I started school. I remember my friends dad nastily disputing this possibility (like some PP) and throwing a newspaper at me saying “read that then” so I picked it up and started reading it out loud.

He soon STFU!!

My DS is a veritable literary genius with a Masters in English from Cambridge, and he couldn’t read before he started school.

My advice is not to engage with any competitive parenting and just make sure you find as much time to read together as you can. Make it fun.

Of course! Unfortunately we have children from lots of different settings. We do transition visits and parent info evenings on phonics in the summer before they join, but if they have been diligently teaching their child capital letters or look and say or just the wrong sounds from age 2.5, it’s hard to undo. I blame children’s toddler toys which are usually really unhelpful. It’s amazing how many “educational” toys are completely at odds with the curriculum. You would think they would pay a teacher to help them develop them! Even flash cards labelled as phonics have things like O is for owl, which mean children find it harder to learn “o” as in h-o-t.

My DD couldn't read when she started reception, we had done some phonics sounds with her and read to her a lot, looked at books and words together but basically didn't want to interfere with what school would do! She now has to go and do her phonics with a group of older children as she's gone past what her reception friends are doing (can basically read independently now).

Well good to know I did something right. When I had DS I couldn't drive so I would read to him on the bus to keep him occupied, also in bed in the morning and at bed time. I am guesing about 3 x 20 minutes most days. I can stil recite " monkey puzzle", " peepo" and snail and the whale now 17 years later.

I can relate to this - I was an early and fast reader and sometimes in a work context I pretend it's taken me longer to read something than it really has because otherwise I know people will think I didn't read it properly!

I could read and write at 4, including spelling seven letter words at 3.

So it does happen, but without trying to sound like a twat I was always an outlier academically, especially in English. I took the level 6-8 SATS paper in year 6, and I got the highest scores for my exam board at A Level.

This is where tablets and devices are a real issue because they have replaced that 'sit and engage with your child so they learn to sit still and engage'.

DSs class were a nightmare because of the lack of this. Other year groups haven't had the same level of issue (apart from perhaps this class).

It's dead interesting to see.

I can stil recite " monkey puzzle", " peepo" and snail and the whale now 17 years later.

It was Each Peach Pear Plum here.... I think 30 years later,we are all word-perfect still!

Christ I hope not, my DS (just turned 4) is nowhere near reading. Can’t yet recognise all the letters in the alphabet or even all the numbers 1-10. His brain just doesn’t seem to work that way yet. But he can get himself dressed, use a toilet, share, and is confident with asking grown ups for help / answering questions etc so I’m hoping that I’ve done my bit and the teachers will do their bit. Obviously read to him loads and he loves stories but he’s far more interested in playing outdoors than sitting learning phonics and I have no interest in teach phonics so we are where we are.

Very few 4 year olds can read before they start school, in real life anyway. Of course a few will be able to but it is absolutely not the norm.

I haven't read the rest of the thread but this says it all.

So is phonics little letters as I call them and not big letters.

So cat would be c-a-t and not see- ay- Tee.

I always teach DD little letters and my 92 year old grand mother told me off telling me I should teach DD properly 😳

Nah school teach that, and once they start you can follow their methods at home. More important to learn self care like toileting, changing clothes, putting coat on etc

In all my dc's classes there were children who started reception able to read. This varied between knowing a few words, beginning to work out simple words with phonics, to reading small chapter books independently (like Rainbow Fairies).

Now on the whole those dc kept towards the top of the class in reading at primary, however there were ones who were non-readers when they started who not only caught up, but overtook them.

It doesn't matter long term, so if he wants to learn, then fine, help him. If he doesn't, then leave it.

Mine certainly wasn’t reading before reception. He’s reading at an above average level now for his age. I wouldn’t worry OP

Makes no odds. My youngest loved books but couldn't read, had a speech delay, refused to mark make at all. He's currently in year three, and one of the top in his class. He got free reader before anyone else in his class, was the second to get his pen licence. Still can't tie his laces though!

My eldest could write her name but otherwise wasn't a reader, she was one of the highest in secondary school for exam results.